The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has consistently viewed fintech as “valuable partners” in building the financial system of the future, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Tuesday, highlighting the sector’s role in expanding financial inclusion, improving customer experience and enabling faster and more efficient loan disbursement.
Speaking at the Global Fintech Festival 2026 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Malhotra said the central bank’s approach to fintech is built on “constant, open and constructive engagement” with startups, fintech companies and other stakeholders.
“Over the last decade, fintech has fundamentally changed the architecture of Indian finance… The Reserve Bank has consistently viewed fintech as a valuable partner in building the financial system of the future,” Malhotra said.
He said the RBI’s regulatory sandbox, the Reserve Bank’s Innovation Hub and its ongoing dialogue with the fintech ecosystem reflect the regulator’s belief that “better policy emerges from ongoing, open and constructive engagement.”
Over the last decade, Malhotra said, fintech has “fundamentally changed the architecture of Indian finance,” moving banking “from the branch to the hands of every citizen.”
“Today, a shopkeeper in a small town, a farmer in a remote village, a young professional in a metropolis are all transacting, saving and taking loans on the same seamless digital rails,” he said, pointing to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Aadhaar-enabled payment systems and the Jan Dhan ecosystem.
“This is financial inclusion not just as a policy goal, but as a daily reality for hundreds of millions of Indians,” the governor said.
Fintech has helped India’s diverse population access formal finance “faster and more affordably” and has also transformed the efficiency of the financial system, Malhotra said.
He highlighted improvements in customer experience and financial infrastructure, including faster account opening and payment settlement times, lower transaction costs, better fraud detection through AI-powered analytics and real-time monitoring.
“Equally important has been the role of fintech in improving the customer experience and efficiency of our financial infrastructure – reducing account opening and payment settlement times, reducing transaction costs, enhancing fraud detection through AI-powered analytics, providing real-time controls, etc.,” he said.
“Perhaps nowhere is this impact more felt than in the provision of credit to our micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),” he said, highlighting cash flow-based lending, account aggregators and platforms such as the Unified Credit Interface. Fintech is helping to bridge the MSME credit gap in India by providing formal, collateral-free loans to millions of small businesses that have been invisible to traditional underwriting models for decades. “This is credit reaching the last mile of businesses, supporting jobs and livelihoods across the country.”
Malhotra said the RBI was committed to encouraging innovation while ensuring trust underpins the financial system.
“We have encouraged self-regulation within the sector. We have supported the development of digital government infrastructure on which fintech companies can build. We have been open to new ideas and new players. We have promoted responsible innovation while protecting trust, which is the very foundation of finance,” he said, asserting that the RBI will continue to pursue this approach, guided by the vision of building a financial system that is safer, more trustworthy, inclusive, fair and efficient and supportive of economic growth and public welfare.
The Governor said the RBI’s broader goal was to create a financial system that is “safer, more trustworthy, more inclusive, fair, efficient” and supportive of economic growth and public welfare.